Catherina Lipsius House
674 Bushwick Avenue | Bushwick | built 1931
Open on the map8 entries
The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1889
Brewery widow Catherina Lipsius buys the corner lot and commissions a mansion
Catherina Lipsius ran the Claus Lipsius Brewery on her own after both of her husbands died. In 1889 she bought an empty corner lot at Bushwick and Willoughby avenues, and the building application put the cost of a new house at $25,000. For the design she hired Theobald Engelhardt, an architect favored by the neighborhood's German families.
“…by 1889 Catherina purchased the property at 670 Bushwick Avenue. Located at the corner of Bushwick and Willoughby avenues, the site was still undeveloped land…”
- 1890
Engelhardt's round-arched mansion rises with a rounded corner tower
The house of red brick with stone and terra-cotta trim was finished in 1889-90 in the American Round-Arched style. Its best-known feature is a rounded tower at the corner, and above the two-and-a-half stories sits a high mansard roof with dormers and ornamented chimneys. A columned stone portico marks the entrance, and a two-story section with a porch extends at the rear.
“…constructed of red brick with stone and terra-cotta trim, features a dramatic, rounded corner tower…”
- 1902
Dr. Frederick A. Cook moves in and sets up his medical practice in the house
In 1902 Catherina Lipsius sold the house to Mary Hunt, who soon became the second wife of Dr. Frederick A. Cook. Cook had been living nearby at 335 Bushwick Avenue. The couple moved to this larger house, where he ran his medical practice, and he kept practicing at home between his Arctic expeditions.
“Catherina Lipsius sold the house and property to Mary Hunt, who would soon become the second wife of Dr. Frederick A. Cook…”
- 1909
Cook, the house's owner, claims the North Pole and is denounced by Peary
Cook set out for the North Pole in July 1907 and, once he reached Copenhagen in 1909, declared that he had gotten there on April 21, 1908. Robert Peary then announced his own arrival on April 6, 1909 and called Cook a fraud. Cook got a hero's welcome in New York, but Peary kept raising doubts in the press, in Congress and in court.
- 1916
The Cook family loses the house to foreclosure
Cook's fight to defend his reputation against Peary used up all of his funds, and the Cooks lost the house at 670 Bushwick Avenue to foreclosure in 1916. Ownership went back to Catherina Lipsius, who had sold it to Mary Hunt in 1902.
- 1920
An Italian family buys the house as Bushwick's German era fades
Catherina Lipsius's daughters and heirs sold the house in 1920 to Guiseppe Giambalvo. The sale reflected a shift in Bushwick, where many German families were leaving for suburban areas while Italian immigrants arrived and built their own neighborhood. The Giambalvo family kept the property until 1952, when it passed to the Daughters of Wisdom, a Catholic order.
“The daughters and heirs of Catherina Lipsius sold the house and lot again in 1920, to Guiseppe Giambalvo.”
- 1960
Dr. Clement Davis and his wife Eleanor buy the house and own it for 35 years
After the convent years, the house was sold in 1960 to Dr. Clement Davis and his wife Eleanor, who kept it until 1995. The landmarks report credits these long ownerships with preserving the building while many other large houses on Bushwick Avenue were torn down during the neighborhood's decline.
“In 1960, the house was sold again to a doctor, Clement Davis, and his wife Eleanor, who owned it until 1995.”
- 2013
Landmarks Commission hears only support for designating the Lipsius House
On June 18, 2013 the Landmarks Preservation Commission held its public hearing on the Catherina Lipsius House, also called the Dr. Frederick A. Cook House. Two speakers backed designation, the owner and a Historic Districts Council representative, and Council Member Diana Reyna sent a supportive letter. No one spoke against it, and the commission's report is dated June 25, 2013.
“There were two speakers in favor of designation including the owner and a representative of the Historic Districts Council. There were no speakers in opposition…”
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